Nike’s News

Welcome to the June newsletter for Thousand Hills Riding Stable, Nike’s News!

Summer is finally here, please make sure you bring water with you when you come to ride, and wear cooler clothes. Summer Camp is also right around the corner. If you haven’t signed up please do so today!

Reminder to our lesson families and friends, if you aren't receiving our invoices or the newsletter please let us know. Check your spam box. Thank you!!!

Remember to like us on Facebook and visit our website: You also can review us on Google Plus and Yelp. With Google, just Google us and click review. The Yelp website is: just review us on there also! Thank you!!!!

Up and Coming Events:

Inside this issue:

Up and Coming EventsPage 1

Around the FarmPage 2

Horse Show NewsPage 3

Breed of the MonthPage 4

Summer Camp FlyerPage 5

Photo GalleryPage 6

Around the Farm:***Thousand Hills Riding Stable Summer Camp***

Dates: June 30th-July 3rd, July 13th-17th, July 27th-31st, August 10th -14th, August 24th-28th.

Price: $275 per child. Must have at least two sign ups in order for camp to run

Hours: From 9am to 12pm.

Students will learn all aspects of horse care, feeding, and mucking stalls. They will ride for 1 hour, then have a craft time or an un-mounted lesson.

You can contact Yvonne about signing up for camp, email

Camp Flyer is on page 6 in the newsletter.

Please welcome our new students to the Thousand Hills Riding Stable Family! Ava and Julia are new students, welcome back Frida and Alysa. Please say hello to them if you see them around the barn.

Our recent new improvements: A new trailer to help accommodate all the students that would like to show this year. You should find the driveway in much better shape after having it regraveled. We are looking forward to adding more footing to the riding arena as soon as the ground dries up and the trucks can get in. Barn roof repairs will be starting soon as well.

In Memory of Cabbie

Pour Me Some Cab

“Cabbie”

Cabbie aged 22, passed away on May 12th due to a freak accident. Cabbie has joined his many friends over the rainbow bridge and is now running free. Ms. Yvonne is glad that in his last year she could give him a much better life than he had before he came. He passed away a fat well loved pony surrounded by people that loved him.

As many of you know Cabbie came to Thousand Hills Riding Stable about a year ago in need of much TLC. Cabbie was a Welsh/Trakehnercross and was used forfox hunting. Then in 2013 he was sold to a wealthy woman who decided she didn’t like him. She turned him out in a field with no provisions and he went from a healthy fat pony to an emaciated skeleton in about 8 months. The lady that sold him heard about what a state he was in and got him back. She telephoned Yvonne because she knew she was looking for a lesson pony. She took him on and he steadily put on weight.

In the year Ms. Yvonne had Cabbie he touched and brightened so many lives. Sometimes we don’t know why our horses come into our lives but Cabbie knew Yvonne could help him and he helped her in return. Rest in Peace dear Cabbie.

Horse Show News:

Here are the dates for our shows that we will be doing this year.

Picturesque Farms Summer Series, Start time 3:30pm

June 10th & 17th July 1st, 8th,15th, 22nd & 29th August 5th & 12th

Moriah Farm Horse Shows Dates for 2015:

Saturdays-Hunter Show

Students are invited to attend please ask us about details.

Sundays-Jumper Show

Please come out and cheer on your instructors!

May 9th-HunterAugust 1st-Hunter

May 10th-JumperAugust 2nd-Jumper

May 30th-HunterSeptember 26th-Hunter

May 31st-JumperSeptember 27th-Jumper

July 25th-HunterOctober 10th-Hunter

July 26th-JumperOctober 11th-Jumper

On May 10th, Thousand Hills Riding Stable when to Moriah Farm for a Jumper Show. Great day for the show team! Sarah and Scarlett took reserve champion in puddle jumpers and Yvonne and Nike took champion in low jumpers. Great start to the show season!

Yvonne on Nike and Ariana on Lyric.Sarah showing Scarlet in a jumper class.

Breed of the Month: Thoroughbred

Since last month feature was on the Triple Crown, here is some background on the Thoroughbred Race Horse.

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are considered "hot-blooded" horses, known for their agility, speed and spirit.

The Thoroughbred as it is known today was developed in 17th- and 18th-century England, when native mares were crossbred with imported Oriental stallions of Arabian, Barb, and Turkoman breeding. All modern Thoroughbreds can trace their pedigrees to three stallions originally imported into England in the 17th century and 18th century, and to a larger number of foundation mares of mostly English breeding. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Thoroughbred breed spread throughout the world; they were imported into North America starting in 1730 and into Australia, Europe, Japan and South America during the 19th century. Millions of Thoroughbreds exist today, and more than 118,000foals are registered each year worldwide.

Thoroughbreds are used mainly for racing, but are also bred for other riding disciplines such as show jumping, combined training, dressage, polo, and fox hunting. They are also commonly crossbred to create new breeds or to improve existing ones, and have been influential in the creation of the Quarter Horse, Standardbred, Anglo-Arabian, and various warmblood breeds.

Breed Characteristics:

The typical Thoroughbred ranges from 15.2 to 17.0hands (62 to 68inches, 157 to 173cm) high, averaging 16hands (64inches, 163cm). They are most often bay, dark bay or brown, chestnut, black, or gray. Less common colors recognized in the United States include roan and palomino. White is very rare, but is a recognized color separate from gray. The face and lower legs may be marked with white, but white will generally not appear on the body. Coat patterns that have more than one color on the body, such as Pinto or Appaloosa, are not recognized by mainstream breed registries. Good quality Thoroughbreds have a well-chiseled head on a long neck, high withers, a deep chest, a short back, good depth of hindquarters, a lean body, and long legs.Thoroughbreds are classified among the "hot-blooded" breeds, which are animals bred for agility and speed and are generally considered spirited and bold.

Thoroughbreds born in the Northern Hemisphere are officially considered a year older on the first of January each year; those born in the Southern Hemisphere officially are one year older on the first of August. These artificial dates have been set to enable the standardization of races and other competitions for horses in certain age groups.

History of the Thoroughbred:

Beginnings in England

Early racing

Flat racing existed in England by at least 1174, when four-mile races took place at Smithfield, in London. Racing continued at fairs and markets throughout the Middle Ages and into the reign of King James I of England. It was then that handicapping, a system of adding weight to attempt to equalize a horse's chances of winning as well as improved training procedures, began to be used. During the reigns of Charles II, William III, Anne, and George I, the foundation of the Thoroughbred was laid. Under James' grandson, Charles II, a keen racegoer and owner, and James' great-granddaughter Queen Anne, royal support was given to racing and the breeding of race horses. With royal support, horse racing became popular with the public, and by 1727, a newspaper devoted to racing, the Racing Calendar, was founded. Devoted exclusively to the sport, it recorded race results and advertised upcoming meets.

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Matchem, a grandson of the Godolphin Arabian, from a painting by George Stubbs

Photo Gallery:

Please keep sending your pictures in! We love cute pictures of our kids at the barn or at the horse shows! Please include your child’s first name and the horse or pony they are with. This way we can add them to our monthly newsletter. Please email them to: Yvonne:

About Thousand Hills Riding Stable:

Situated in the heart of Northern Virginia Hunt Country and Vineyards in Delaplane, VA. Thousand Hills Riding Stable, LLC. is owned and run by the Toone Family, Mark and Yvonne along with their 2 year old daughter Ariana. Yvonne is a licensed Veterinary Technician. Thousand Hills Riding Stable invites riders as young as 2 years old to come explore the art of Horsemanship and Horseback riding. Hope to see you soon!

About the editor: Katrina Maddux

Katrina has known Mark and Yvonne for several years. Katrina has owned and shown horses since she was 8 years old. She grew up in California and showed on the “A” Hunter Jumper Circuit. She moved to the east coast when she received an Equestrian Scholarship to attend St. Andrews Presbyterian College in North Carolina. There she majored in History with a minor in Equine Science. Katrina currently lives in Hartselle, AL. She owns 2 horses, Abercrombie “Buddy”, 4 year old Oldenburg gelding that she showed in Hunter Breeding in 2013 and will be showing in Baby Green Hunters in 2015. Deardra, Katrina’s other horse is a 9 year old Arabian mare. Katrina shows Deardra in Sport Horse Classes on the Arabian circuit, Amateur Hunters at Hunters shows, and Fox Hunts. She also has 2 dogs, Annie a Standard Schnauzer and a Mini Schnauzer named Pierre. Katrina and Deardra

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